IRON MOUNTAIN — The former Dickinson County Healthcare System campus on U.S. 2 will now be known as Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson, county board members learned.

Margaret Minerick, who chaired the former DCH Board, said there are “a lot of logistics to work out” but “I think we’ve found the best of the best” in turning over operations to Marshfield Clinic Health System.

Marshfield, a non-profit Wisconsin-based provider, announced Feb. 4 it had finalized an agreement with DCH to bring its services to the Upper Peninsula. DCH and Marshfield Clinic earlier had signed a definitive agreement that the DCH Board approved unanimously.

The planned affiliation was first disclosed in October and the county board approved the arrangement during a joint meeting with the hospital board Dec. 6.

Marshfield plans a $26 million capital investment over the next five years at Iron Mountain, including construction of a regional cancer care center. A local advisory board will provide input.

Marshfield representatives from more than 20 different disciplines have visited the Dickinson campus over the past month, Minerick said. “DCH on its own doesn’t have a lot of depth,” she said. “We have that now. We think it’s going to be great.”

Former DCH Board members named to the advisory group are Minerick, David Holmes, Alyssa Hartwig and Paul Bujold. Dr. Alexis Whaley, a local pediatrician who will now be employed by Marshfield, will also serve on the five-member panel.

Minerick will have a seat as well on the MCHS Hospitals Inc. Board, which she said will meet quarterly.

The plan for Marshfield’s capital expansion in Dickinson County is “just in the beginning stages,” Minerick said. Employees, she told the county board, are “excited about Marshfield being here.”

Commissioner Joe Stevens, who formerly served as a liaison to the DCH Board, said he’s heard “all positives” about the change.

Commissioner Ann Martin asked if any meetings connected with Marshfield operations will be public, and Minerick said they will be private.

DCH has operated as a Michigan municipal health facility corporation under Public Act 230, holding its board meetings in public. Hospital attorney Michael Celello had advised in December that the Marshfield agreement would make that governing law no longer applicable to DCH.

Resolutions approved by the hospital and county boards in December directed DCH CEO Chuck Nelson to negotiate final details of the Marshfield affiliation. While the hospital board has now approved those terms, the county has received no copy of the document.

Commissioners, however, appear satisfied, as Stevens asked Chair Henry Wender if DCHS should be dropped as standing agenda item. Wender agreed, noting it could be added as needed.

In a December memo to the county board, Celello had outlined some key items:

— For the first three years post-closing, any reduction in labor force must by approved by the local advisory board. DCH employees will transition to become Marshfield employees.

— The advisory board, for a period of 10 years, must approve any decision to discontinue or substantially diminish any core service lines or the closure of a medical practice. The board will also be responsible for monitoring the operational functions and financial performance of the hospital as well as the development of strategic business and other plans.

— Dickinson Hospital Foundation will be given $1 million over a five-year period while also serving as an “enforcer” of the affiliation agreement. A subcommittee of the foundation will be charged with making sure Marshfield meets its $26 million capital commitment and related promises.

— Marshfield is taking responsibility for pension funding. Receiving pension payouts when still working will not be permitted.

Some major financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, although officials have said there will be no liability for Dickinson County going forward. The amount of unfunded pension obligations to be assumed by Marshfield and the amount of DCH debt left to settle has not been reported.

Several years ago, two other planned acquisitions of DCH fell through. Bellin Health of Green Bay, Wis., backed out of a deal in May 2018 and then Marquette-based UP Health System withdrew from talks in September 2018. The sale to Bellin had been revealed as an estimated $60 million transaction, including about $40 million to make pensions whole.

At that time, the county still held title to the hospital property on U.S. 2, which it leased to DCH for a nominal fee. Just a week before the planned Marshfield affiliation was announced in October, the deed was transferred from the county to DCH to meet the terms of a $16.9 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loan to DCH.

The hospital had faced serious financial trouble at the time of the proposed Bellin sale, but its position has grown stronger in recent years due to better performance, an infusion of federal pandemic aid and the USDA loan.

The original Dickinson County Memorial Hospital opened in 1951 on Woodward Avenue in Iron Mountain. The hospital has received no taxpayer support since moving to its current facility on U.S. 2 in 1996.

Marshfield Clinic was incorporated under Wisconsin law in 1916 and operates as a charitable corporation with all of its assets held in a trust. It is one of only a few large independent nonprofit medical clinics in the United States. It has more than 1,400 providers, comprising 170 specialties, a health plan, and research and education programs. Primary operations include Marshfield Clinic, nine Marshfield Medical Center hospitals, Marshfield Children’s Hospital, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Security Health Plan, and Marshfield Clinic Health System Foundation.